JENKINS
,
SirLEOLINE
(
1625
-
1685
),
civil lawyer, diplomat, benefactor of Jesus College, Oxford
,
son of a father of the same name of
Llanblethian, Glam.
(described as ‘
a man of about £40 a year
’); b. at
Llantrisant
, apparently in
1625
, but the date is sometimes given as
1623
. After attending
Cowbridge School
, he entered
Jesus College
in
1641
. There his studies were soon interrupted by the
Civil War
, and after having taken up arms for the
king
he was forced to retire to
Glamorgan
. It was then that he met his friend and
patron
,
GilbertSheldon
(later
archbishop
), who, along with
FrancisMansell
,
principal of Jesus College
(q.v.)
, had taken refuge in
SirJohnAubrey
's house at
Llantrithyd
. Here
Jenkins
acted as
tutor
to
Aubrey
's son and others until he was forcibly removed and indicted with keeping a seminary of rebellion and sedition. He then moved with his pupils to
Oxford
and settled in a house
which received the name of the ‘
Little Welsh Hall
.’ Being suspected on account of his Royalist connections, he fled to the
Continent
, taking his pupils with him. While abroad he laid the foundation of his
knowledge of the Civil Law
which was to qualify him for his public career.

With the
RestorationJenkins
returned to
Jesus College
and was made a
Fellow
. Upon
Mansell
's retirement in
1661
he was elected
principal
and he held the office until
1673
. In
1662
he was made
deputy professor of Civil Law
; he was also made
assessor to the Chancellor's Court
, and he was entrusted with the
foreign correspondence of the University
. Persuaded by
Sheldon
,
Jenkins
decided to take up the
practice of the Civil Law
. Preferments followed rapidly. In
1663
he was made
deputy to the dean of the Court of Arches
, and soon afterwards he succeeded to that office. After the outbreak of war with the
Dutch
in
1665
he was appointed to
preside over the High Court of Admiralty
. Later he was also made
judge
of the
Prerogative Court of Canterbury
.

Jenkins
's work as
judge of the Admiralty
is of great importance in the history of Prize Law, and, along with
lord Stowell
and
SirSamuel T.Evans
(q.v.)
, he is entitled to rank as one of the three principal builders of that important branch of International Law. In particular, his decisions foreshadow the development of the ‘doctrine of continuous voyage.’

The
Government
made constant use of
Jenkins
's services. He was a delegate to the
Congress of Cologne
in
1673
, and he was the principal mediator at the
Congress of Nymegen
,
1675-9
. From
1680 to 1684
he was
secretary of State
. In
1671
he was
M.P.
for
Hythe
, and in subsequent Parliaments he represented the
University of Oxford
. He secured the passage of the
Statute of Distribution
,
1670
, by which succession to the personal estates of persons dying intestate was regulated until
1926
. It was at his suggestion that the wills of
soldiers
and
sailors
were exempted from the formalities prescribed by the
Statute of Frauds
,
1677
. His proposal for the establishment of a permanent commission to determine appeals to the
Privy Council
was not realized until the
Judicial Committee
was set up in
1833
, and his attempt to forbid clandestine marriages had to wait until the passing of
lord Hardwicke's Act
in
1753
.

As a
servant of the Crown
,
Jenkins
was conscientious and incorruptible. Although exceedingly deferential in manner, he was firm in matters of principle, and so rather than submit to dictation as a
judge
he offered to resign.
GilbertBurnet
says that he was dull and slow; but that it was unsafe to take advantage of his modesty was shown at the
French court
when a curious
courtier
, not knowing what country he came from, asked him for a specimen of his native language. The reply he received was the
Welsh
proverb ‘
Nid wrth ei big y mae adnabod cyffylog
’ (You can't tell a woodcock by its beak).

Jenkins
d.
1 Sept. 1685
, and was buried in the chapel of
Jesus College
, of which he has justly been described as the second founder. It was he who placed the college on its feet after the
Restoration
, and the present library was built by him at his own expense. By his will he left to the college his real and personal estate, and under the scheme which was drawn up for the administration of this very substantial endowment the
Welsh
character of the college was still further accentuated. He also made provision for
Cowbridge grammar school
.

Bibliography:

Oxford Dictionary of National
Biography
;

W. Wynne
,
The Life of Sir Leoline Jenkins
,
London, 1724
,
1724
;

the Leoline Jenkins papers in the
Codrington
library and the High Court of Admiralty papers in the P.R.O.;

Hardy
,
Jesus College
, 1899
(Oxford College Histories),
1889
;

British Year Book of International Law
,
London, 1920-1939
,
1934
, 21-35;